


Sword & Shield

by Erisethx



Series: Sword & Shield [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-13
Updated: 2017-08-23
Packaged: 2018-12-14 17:01:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11787513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erisethx/pseuds/Erisethx
Summary: Allura will not stand by while a rescue mission is underway, no matter how sick she is. A (possible) series entailing what happens when Allura is fighting a nasty virus, her feelings for Keith, and Keith's own cantankerous heart.





	1. P A R T . O N E

Keith can't recall the last time Allura heeded to his advice. It feels like an eternity since she's admitted to being wrong or making a mistake, which isn't something Keith keeps track of. But he wishes with all his might that this were one of those moments she realizes she needs to take a step back. 

"Allura!" His hand flashes out to her arm, reeling her out of the way of falling debris. The ceiling is caving on them, spider-cracked from an explosion and ready to give way. The vessel isn't going to last another two minutes under the duress of an attack -- and neither is Allura. 

"I'm fine," she snaps through his earpiece, yanking her shoulder from under his hold and trudges forward. Keith stands behind her for a second, stunned by how damned stubborn she is and he contemplates outright pulling her over his shoulder and bolting back to the castle. She'd probably grapple him down to the floor but her coughing rips through the intercom and Keith knows she doesn't have the strength in her to fight back. But she moves forward anyway. 

"Dahl'mara said there were fifty-three," she makes out between the coughs. She only pauses to brace her hand against the wall and catch her breath. Her throat is dry and every inhale burns like the fever that hasn't broken even with that old Altean remedy Coran concocted. Her head is swimming but she still hears Keith behind her repeating the same number in confusion. 

The thought of those women and children kept in darkness at the bottom of the ship, scared for their lives as they were being transported to be bought like cattle....the thought of their hopelessness enrages Allura. She straightens up just as Keith reaches for her, withdrawing his hand when he catches her glare. She sees him as an obstacle in the way of her determination to save every last captured Vemarian aboard this ship. 

He meets her burning gaze with a soft one. "I counted fifty-two."

Keith cuts her off before she can speak, hoping to maybe change her mind before they venture further. 

"I know you wanna make sure everyone is off this ship --" 

"Keith, I heard som--" 

"I heard them too. And I'm with you. But you have to go back. I'll go and I promise, Allura," Keith grabs her hand and places it against his chest, gaze still on hers. "I promise you, I will come back with the last person still in here. But you have to go back for me." 

Somewhere overhead the ship is falling apart completely, but Allura cannot see passed Keith and the look in his eyes. The certainty pooled in them while the world shatters in the background sends a shiver down her spine and Allura is held captive by him. 

The feelings she's tried to suppress for some time begin to stir in her, pushing forth his name to the very tip of her tongue. She barely breathes a syllable before he's suddenly looming over her, falling onto her frame -- and the world crashes down behind him.


	2. P A R T . T W O

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allura will not stand by while a rescue mission is underway, no matter how sick she is. A (possible) series entailing what happens when Allura is fighting a nasty virus, her feelings for Keith, and Keith's own cantankerous heart.

The thunderous collapse over them comes to a rumbling halt, and brave as she is, Allura has her eyes tightly shut against the possible sight of being trapped under rubble. She's gotten them killed, she panics inwardly. She is going to open her eyes and Keith will be lifeless, crushed above her by the mass of crumbled pillars, and she will have been his murderer. His body is limp, head bowed besides hers, and Allura curls her fingers tighter around the collar of his armor.

It's an overbearing dread that closes her windpipe, keeps her lips dry and clamped together, shutting her out from answering Pidge's voice shooting through her head. It cuts out after a moment and Allura is back in the darkened silence. She hears her own breathing and then, softly, she catches the sound of someone else's.

 **"Keith?"** her voice comes through a fissure, her fingers tightening their hold on him. His name rounds to the start of her mouth again, when Keith reanimates shoulders-first.

Allura finally opens her eyes. Head tucked in the curve of his neck, she catches the viridian glow of the lights in his suit and whispers anxiously to him.

**"Keith?"**

**"Hmm?"** His voice is groggy, and a hiss follows when he lifts his head off Allura's shoulder. It barely comes up before it hits the ceiling and Keith slowly remembers the last sequence of events, body tensing in realization.

 **"A-Are you alright?"** Allura makes out quietly as he shuffles above her.

There is little space to slide, less so between them, and Keith stops moving immediately. He's able to shift around enough to raise his head over hers and meets her wide eyes.

They're bright and seeking answers in him. Allura is suddenly small, fragile, and back in the middle of deep space with him, holding onto his hands as he brings her close and to a spinning stop. He knows that fear in her, just as he knows that he never wants to see it again.

 **"I'm fine,"** he ushers out, gritting his teeth as he braces his hands against the floor and pushes up. **"I'm glad I pushed you out of the way in time."**

His back meets resistance about a hundred pounds heavier than expected but Keith keeps himself up and away from compressing Allura and her chest altogether. She breathes a little easier and that alone is worth the effort.

 **"I'm sorry,"** she frowns, eyes shifting away.

Keith watches her start to shrink from him and doesn't hesitate to pin her down with his gaze.

 **"Sorry for what?"** his voice coolly chases after hers.

 **"....For not thinking rationally and getting us into this mess. How are we going to make it out of here in time to save the last person aboard? The ship is falling apart and we're running out of time, and--"** Her voice quivers before a cough rips through her.

 **"Easy....We're going to make it out of here in time, Princess,"** Keith tries to reassure her, masking his own concern over her declining health with a calm face, though it's taking everything in him not to panic over her. He should've forced her to stay back, even if it meant facing her ire or having her shun him for the next ten thousand years. But this rescue mission is important to her, and thinking about it coldly, Keith knows that there isn’t a force in the universe strong enough to keep her off this ship.

"We're the paladins of Voltron." He shoves back against the collapsed wall on him. **"We've faced off battalions, freed enslaved planets from Zarkon,"** Keith grunts, broad shoulders holding off the weight. **"I thought you'd be used to working under pressure by now."**

Allura snaps her gaze back to him and the moment dawns on her. **"Did you just make a joke right now, Keith Kogane?"**

**"A joke out of this situation, me? Never. I'm crushed that you would think that."**

Allura scoffs in surprise, and a small smile blossoms across her face. The sight of it pulls Keith’s lips into a smirk, and it reinforces his entire skeletal frame with something stronger than he is, something that lets him hold the heaviness of what feels like an entire mid-level floor on him a little longer. It allows him a second or more to keep his eyes on hers, and Allura's gaze doesn't stray.

It's the only the sound of ship groaning that yanks Keith back into gear.

**"Let's get out of here, yeah?"**

Soundlessly, Allura nods. She watches with baited breath as Keith gathers his strength, take a deep breath -- and thrusts against the weight. It feels like the world is crashing down on him, like it's done so many times before. But this time, it's threatening to come down on not just him -- but Allura.

Allura, whom never fails to choose the most difficult route for herself if it'll provide the best outcome for others. That drive of hers steers Keith's attention towards her way and he hasn't been able to recalibrate his course since. Against his better judgment, Keith only goes forward and fast, so fast, it often feels like he's not in control, free falling into an attraction for the Altean princess. And there are no brakes on this, no sure way on how to navigate around it or through it. Being considered the best pilot in the Garrison means nothing here, if it ever did anywhere. But not even his own shortcomings in the matters of the heart nor his insecurities stop the surging want to be by Allura, to be here for her.

So, _no_ , Keith decides. No, he's not going to let the world take a shot at her.  
Not while he's here, not when he's still got strength and fight in him and 200 bones to break. And if it takes all of them to snap for this wall to lift off of her, he gladly volunteers them. This wall or Keith is going to break, but never Allura.

Never Allura.

With a shout, Keith pushes back with everything in him. And the rubble gives way.


End file.
